Cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of commonly used surinamese medicinal plants in cultured Chinese hamster ovary cells

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Medicinal plants are popularly used in Suriname for treating a wide variety of conditions. However, there are often no records about their possible adverse maternal and perinatal effects. For this reason, we assessed a number of commonly used plant-derived folk medicines for their potential genotoxic effects in a cell culture model. DESIGN AND METHODS: Parts from Aloe vera, Apium graveolens, Azaradichta indica, Carica papaya, Cocos nucifera, Dioscorea villosa, Eryngium foetidum, Gossypium barbadense, Momordica charantia, Musa x paradisiaca, and Senna reticulata were extracted with distilled water, freeze-dried, and stored at -20oC. Next, they were evaluated at serial dilutions for their effects on the proliferation of, and DNA damage formation in cultured Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells using a sulforhodamine B and a single cell gel electrophoresis (comet) assay, respectively. The latter studies were validated by assessing the DNA strand-breakage induced by etoposide. RESULTS: The extracts from A. vera, G. barbadense, M. charantia, M. paradisiaca, and S. reticulata inhibited cell growth at IC50 values of 100 to 400 μg/mL, whereas the remaining samples were hardly cytotoxic (IC50 values > 1,000 μg/mL). However, only the extracts from G. barbadense and M. paradisiaca caused appreciable DNA damage, viz. 40 and 30%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Preparations from G. barbadense and M. paradisiaca should be used with caution, particularly by pregnant women. These samples are now further evaluated in more comprehensive models of genotoxicity.